2012 Chevy Tahoe low oil pressure/ shop says I need new engine!

[Aburns70]

there are a lot of what if's
but I would find a shop that's not going to ream you for starters
unless you can see glitter in the oil then I would order a oil test kit from blackstone labs, the test is like $30-35 and that is best way to judge the engine condition without tearing it down.
aside from that I would ask around about cost to drop the pan and check and/or replace the oil pump o-ring/pick up tube.
if it is not the pick up tube or oil pressure sensor sensor screen then it's probably time to shop engines

So I just got back from the shop and here’s what they had to say. I wanted to edit from my Original post, I initially said that it had 148k miles but it actually had 157k miles on it.

1.) the gave me the run down, their fix was to put in 10w-30 oil to see if they would increase pressure, they test drove it for 7 miles, once engine was up to temp oil pressure was at about 8-9psi and then parked it at the shop. Low pressure warning never came on during their test drive. He said he checked the oil again and again found metal flakes, and at that point called me to tell me that the bearings were most likely shot and need a new engine.

2.) so I had a list of suggestions and possible fixes that members of this forum gave to me. I had wrote them down and went down the line trying to problem solve with the mechanic.
1st- did they manually check oil pressure, he said they did not, said that because they believed it was the oil pressure sensor that they didn’t believe they needed to check it manually?
2nd- I then asked to make sure that the filter was replaced and he insured me that it was.
3rd- I asked if he heard any engine noise or knocking coming from the engine and he said he didn’t hear anything that would indicate that the engine was knocking.
4th- I asked about the oil pickup tube oring and testing it but adding an additional 2qts of oil and he said that is something “I” could try but with the amount of metal in the engine that I was on borrowed time with the engine and that I could drive it till the engine blew if I wanted too if I didn’t want to try and replace the engine.

So it seemed at that point they didn’t want to try to problem solve the issue anymore, and so I drove it the 1.4 miles home and I took some photos and videos on my drive home and once it was idiling in our driveway.

Pressure slowly dropped on my ride home, start at about 25psi to about 5-10pm once I got back to my house and it was idling. I checked the oil as one member mentioned with a darker cloth and if tried but to be honest I don’t really know what I was looking for as oil looks shiny to me but I didn’t see any obvious metal flakes.

Going to call around to a couple more shops and go from there.

Here’s a video I took once I got home and it was idling in my driveway.

 

[Doubeleive]

So I just got back from the shop and here’s what they had to say. I wanted to edit from my Original post, I initially said that it had 148k miles but it actually had 157k miles on it.

1.) the gave me the run down, their fix was to put in 10w-30 oil to see if they would increase pressure, they test drove it for 7 miles, once engine was up to temp oil pressure was at about 8-9psi and then parked it at the shop. Low pressure warning never came on during their test drive. He said he checked the oil again and again found metal flakes, and at that point called me to tell me that the bearings were most likely shot and need a new engine.

2.) so I had a list of suggestions and possible fixes that members of this forum gave to me. I had wrote them down and went down the line trying to problem solve with the mechanic.
1st- did they manually check oil pressure, he said they did not, said that because they believed it was the oil pressure sensor that they didn’t believe they needed to check it manually?
2nd- I then asked to make sure that the filter was replaced and he insured me that it was.
3rd- I asked if he heard any engine noise or knocking coming from the engine and he said he didn’t hear anything that would indicate that the engine was knocking.
4th- I asked about the oil pickup tube oring and testing it but adding an additional 2qts of oil and he said that is something “I” could try but with the amount of metal in the engine that I was on borrowed time with the engine and that I could drive it till the engine blew if I wanted too if I didn’t want to try and replace the engine.

So it seemed at that point they didn’t want to try to problem solve the issue anymore, and so I drove it the 1.4 miles home and I took some photos and videos on my drive home and once it was idiling in our driveway.

Pressure slowly dropped on my ride home, start at about 25psi to about 5-10pm once I got back to my house and it was idling. I checked the oil as one member mentioned with a darker cloth and if tried but to be honest I don’t really know what I was looking for as oil looks shiny to me but I didn’t see any obvious metal flakes.

Going to call around to a couple more shops and go from there.

Here’s a video I took once I got home and it was idling in my driveway.

in a effort to try and test the pickup tube function I would go buy some cheap wally world oil and filter and put a couple extra quarts in it and go drive it to see if the oil pressure stays up, then drain and refill as normal with the new filter. doing a blackstone oil test won't be much good unless it has been driven a good while.
the oil looks new i don't see any metal on there at all.
maybe they did with the old oil in which case they should have saved a sample to show you.
sounds to me like they just took your money with one 1 try

 

[Fless]

2nd- I then asked to make sure that the filter was replaced and he insured me that it was.

Did you specifically ask about the oil pressure sender filter being replaced? He may have thought you were asking about the engine oil filter.

 

[Aburns70]

I did specify that it was the oil pressure sensor and filter. I told him because of the holiday weekend I had a lot of time on my hands to do some research and said a lot of people mentioned that the filter often get overlooked and not replaced when a new sensor was put in and he assured me that they did replace it.

 

[Doubeleive]

ouch $500 labor and add on parts cost for a 2 hour job

 

[B-train]

I agree with @Doubeleive on this, along with others. Do the o-ring test as mentioned, but make sure to either drain out the extra oil, or just change it all together when finished.

I agree that the oil looks fine in the picture. I would suggest wiping the oil onto the dark cloth, then look at it with a bright light to see if there is glitter. The point of the dark towel is to absorb the oil and reduce the glare, anything shiny should stand out.

Depending on what the oil level test does, I'd do as suggested and run it for several hundred miles and then do a test with Blackstone. At this point, I'm not sold on what these "mechanics" have told you. I believe they took your money, and are hoping to scare more out of you. Do you due diligence based on what we've suggested here or and report back.

Just have some confidence in yourself and you'll learn some new skills that will come in handy in the future as well

 

[mikeyss]

$184 for an oil pressure sensor, and $166 for intake gaskets is absolutely crazy!!! They must have a 70% markup on their parts.

 

[Dustin Jackson]

All speculation aside, metal flakes in the oil is not good and cannot be fixed without opening the motor and finding the source of the problem.

Curing a "low oil pressure" problem will not make the metal flakes go away. It could be a lot of things like piston skirt material or lifters, bearing material

 

[Doubeleive]

All speculation aside, metal flakes in the oil is not good and cannot be fixed without opening the motor and finding the source of the problem.

Curing a "low oil pressure" problem will not make the metal flakes go away. It could be a lot of things like piston skirt material or lifters, bearing material

Presuming there are any.....
if I was a honest mechanic as soon as I found metal indicating internal engine damage I am going to stop work period, right there and reach out to the customer and have them come down and make a educated decision, show them the metal and maybe I get the work and maybe I don't but no sense in stringing someone along. either way i got paid so far.
these guys overcharged for minimum effort.

 

[petethepug]

I gave this a quick read. The shop that did this job followed the procedure for replacing the oil pressure sensor. A good tech knows the sensor can be changed without removing the intake. A shady tech will use that shortcut and charge a customer for an intake R&R.

The shop robbed you because they didn’t fix the issue as well as misdiagnosed it … as well as hiding their errors.

Either…

* Dispute the charge if it was made on a credit card. Get a refund 100%.

* Tell the shop they can replace the O ring in the oil pick up tube, supply the old O ring at their cost and call square, even if that doesn’t fix it.

* Tell the shop you want your money back for misdiagnosis and an incomplete repair or breach of contract.

Move fast as you may be on a timeline with keeping your rights depending on where you live or credit card terms.